Job’s Daughters collecting to feed Langley’s hungry

How many shopping carts full of groceries does it take to fill the back of a hatchback?

A number of girls with Job’s Daughters International, Bethel 52 in Langley, recently tried to answer that question.

They collected bags and bags of non-perishable food from the Murrayville neighbourhood, trying to overflow the hatchback.

Thanks to donations of residents in the vicinity of James Hill Elementary, they collected close to 70 bags of food and about $20 in cash that was subsequently turned over to the Langley Food Bank, said Bethel guardian Tara Porter.

A week before the neighbourhood blitz, members attached flyers to donated Save-On-Foods bags, then delivered those to about 200 homes in the neighbourhood.

Then, braving the rain, a small team circled back to the same homes the next weekend to collect food.

“Some residents had left their donations on their front porches for us. Others gave us donations, when we knocked on their doors,” Porter recounted.

“We had one women – who gave us three bags then – come and find us to give us more.”

Porter expressed gratitude to the families who donated, to Save-On for the donation of the bags, and to the Job’s Daughters members who helped.

Job’s Daughters is an organization for girls ages 10 to 19. It’s the second largest all-girls organization in the world, Porter said.

She described it as a place for girls to learn skills to be leaders, while having fun and making life-long friends.

They’re planning to do another food drive in February, Porter said.

‘This one will be in conjunction with the other Bethels around B.C., and all donations collected in February will be delivered to the Langley Food Bank within a couple of days of collecting,” she elaborated.